Here are the Best SFF and Horror Books of the Year, According to the Locus Awards
The Locus Awards, first started in 1971, are given out annually in several sci-fi, fantasy, and horror categories. The winners are determined by votes from the readers of Locus Magazine. This year, the awards ceremony was MCed by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, author of the YA SFF books The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea and Squad, among others.
Here are this year’s winners!
Science Fiction Novel
The Kaiju Preservation Society, John Scalzi (Tor; Tor UK)
Runners up:
Sweep of Stars, Maurice Broaddus (Tor)
The Red Scholar’s Wake, Aliette de Bodard (Gollancz; JABberwocky)
The Spare Man, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor; Solaris UK)
Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel (Knopf; Picador; HarperCollins Canada)
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey; Jo Fletcher)
Goliath, Tochi Onyebuchi (Tordotcom)
Eyes of the Void, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK; Orbit US)
Neom, Lavie Tidhar (Tachyon)
Eversion, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz; Orbit US)
Fantasy Novel
Babel, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
Runners up:
The Grief of Stones, Katherine Addison (Tor; Solaris UK)
When Women Were Dragons, Kelly Barnhill (Doubleday; Hot Key)
Spear, Nicola Griffith (Tordotcom)
The World We Make, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Nettle & Bone, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)
Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)
The Golden Enclaves, Naomi Novik (Del Rey US; Del Rey UK)
Fevered Star, Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga; Solaris UK)
Siren Queen, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
Horror Novel
What Moves the Dead, T. Kingfisher (Nightfire; Titan UK)
Runners up:
Saturnalia, Stephanie Feldman (Unnamed)
Just Like Home, Sarah Gailey (Tor; Hodder & Stoughton)
Road of Bones, Christopher Golden (St. Martin’s; Titan UK)
The Devil Takes You Home, Gabino Iglesias (Mulholland; Wildfire)
The Fervor, Alma Katsu (Putnam; Titan UK)
Gwendy’s Final Task, Stephen King & Richard Chizmar (Cemetery Dance; Hodder & Stoughton)
Echo, Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Nightfire; Hodder & Stoughton)
No Gods for Drowning, Hailey Piper (Agora)
The Pallbearers Club, Paul Tremblay (Morrow; Titan UK)
Sundial, Catriona Ward (Nightfire; Viper)
Other Locus Award Winners
- Young Adult Novel: Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen; Titan UK)
- First Novel: The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler (MCD; Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- Novella: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
- Anthology: Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, Sheree Renée Thomas & Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki & Zelda Knight, eds. (Tor)
- Collection: Boys, Beasts & Men, Sam J. Miller (Tachyon)
- Nonfiction: Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The Official Biography, Rob Wilkins (Doubleday UK)
- Illustrated and Art Book: Chivalry, Neil Gaiman, art by Colleen Doran (Dark Horse)
Check out the full list of winners and runners up at Locus.
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
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